Game-changing revelations from water management officials

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s non-event press conference last week, something historic happened. Leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District publicly stated they were not only making all efforts to move and store water south and north of Lake Okeechobee to prevent discharges east and west, they also stated this will be the trend.

Stop the presses. This is BIG.

Col. Andrew Kelly’s amazing revelation last week clearly states that operational change is possible today: “The South Florida Water Management District, they are doing things in the northern Kissimmee and also moving water south of the lake to provide additional water south,” Kelly said. “And that, right now, allows us not to release or make any releases to the east and west. So this is going to be kind of the trend.”

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U.S. Rep. Brian Mast announced he's filing the Prioritizing Revised Operations to Eliminate Cyanobacteria Toxins in Florida Act, or the PROTECT Florida Act, which is a revision of the bill The Stop Harmful Discharges Act, during a news conference Monday, June 17, 2019, along the St. Lucie River in Stuart. Mast was supported by a variety of residents and dignitaries, Alex Gillen, executive director of the Friends of the Everglades, Kelli Glass Leighton, city of Stuart commissioner, Mike Meier, city of Stuart commissioner, Blair Wickstrom, publisher of Florida Sportsman magazine, Cristina Maldonado, a veterinarian of Stuart, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, South Florida Water Management District board member, and Ed Zyak, a local fishing guide of Jensen Beach.(Photo: LEAH VOSS/TCPALM)

Kelly finished with, “The trend right now is not to do any releases east and west while the majority of the water will be taken to the south.

"The dike is in a great position. We have very low risk. We are in an excellent position and are able to maneuver water. And the South Florida Water Management District is doing excellent. So, once again, we are not planning any releases this week and we will re-address next week.”

And the revelations continued. South Florida Water Management Executive Director Drew Bartlett all but said we don’t have to have massive toxic discharges, that there really are alternatives to killing our estuaries.

“As soon as we knew we were out of harm’s way from Hurricane Dorian,” Bartlett recounted at the press conference, “me and my team sat down, looked at rainfall projections, looked at lake level projections. And then crafted a game plan to really start helping the Corps of Engineers manage lake levels.

"First, south of the lake. We are moving water to our storage areas south of the lake and then we will move it from there into the water conservation areas and ultimately into Everglades National Park. At the moment we are maximizing release south of the lake at about 2,000 cfs. And then we are also holding water north of the lake, both in Lake Istokpoga and Lake Kissimmee, so that less water gets in the lake.”

Double wow.

“We are going to continue to do this," Bartlett said, "continue to meet daily and look for opportunities to help manage lake levels so we can avoid harmful discharges in the future.”

Blair Wickstrom(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

This is literally a playbook changer, a snap your neck, momma-did-he-really-say-that kind of moment. In the past, the district and corps would not have hesitated to fill Lake Okeechobee beyond 12-feet before the start of the hurricane season, because dumping water to the estuaries was always quick and easy. What changed?

What changed was “you.” Mothers and fathers, everyday people, making yourselves counted where it matters most, with votes. We’ve started to elect people who say they are going to fight to stop the discharges. And no one has done more, or done it better, than Congressman Brian Mast.

Forget party affiliation for a moment. Think stopping the discharges. Think about what Col. Kelly and Director Bartlett just said.

Let it soak in. These were both game-changing revelations. Ditching decades of malpractice for smart, well-conceived plans on how to manage water for the people of Florida, and not a single special interest — mainly two large sugar corporations — took some work.

And we can’t let up now. With a new playbook, not one from 1948, we can all but stop the discharges today. Not 10 to 20 years from now.

Get involved. Keep the pressure on. Bullsugar and Friends of the Everglades, both non-profit membership organizations that have been pushing in earnest for operational change since 2016, can use your support. Go to Rivers Coalition meetings. Contact your elected officials and see where they stand on operational change keeping Lake O lower by sending more clean water south in the dry season.

Make yourself heard.

Blair Wickstrom is publisher of Florida Sportsman magazine. He also is a board member of the Rivers Coalition, Bullsugar, and Friends of the Everglades.